Edmund S. Muskie Scholars Program in

History, Government and Politics

June 19 - July 1, 2005

Research/writing Assignment

Due dates:

Selection of topic/thesis statement: 4:00 p.m., Thursday, June 23

First rough draft: 4:00 p.m., Saturday, June 25

Final rough draft: 4:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 28

Final copy (paper and diskette): 4:00 p.m., Thursday, June 30

This assignment has three objectives:

to offer an opportunity to work in an archives/manuscript repository and to learn how such institutions operate,

to provide hands-on experience in using primary sources -- the raw material of historical research and the basis of understanding the past -- and

to develop a keener understanding of U.S. political history since World War II.

The assignment will be based on work in the papers of Edmund S. Muskie, who graduated from Bates College in 1936 and who was a leading political figure in Maine and the nation from the 1950s to 1981, and the gubernatorial records of James B. Longley, a resident of Lewiston. Bear in mind that the collections at this time consist of the papers and office files of just two individuals, albeit important ones of the period. Hence the number of topics in which one can do fruitful research is necessarily limited to those which caught the interest of them or the people working for them.

In this assignment, please choose a topic from the list on the next sheet in consultation with your advisor, and after conducting research in the papers, prepare a 5 to 8 page paper (double spaced) on it. (Please note: You are by no means restricted to the list; if there is another topic you wish to pursue, consult with your advisor. Also, as your research progresses, you may find you must narrow or redefine the topic of your paper. Please feel free to do so, after discussion with your section leader.)

The Archives will be open from 1:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and on Saturday, June 26. In addition, the facility will be made available several weekday evenings from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Specific days will be announced later.

Your report must be placed on a 3.5-inch diskette. Two diskettes -- one for the paper and the other for back-up -- will be distributed to each program participant at the archives workshop. Both diskettes, each with the final version of your paper, must be turned in at 4:00 p.m., Friday, July 2.

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Possible topics:

The politics of independence: the career of James B. Longley (Lewiston resident, governor of Maine, 1975-1979)

The Democratic party in Maine: the secret of success in a Republican state - Muskie's election as governor of Maine in 1954

Muskie's position on Vietnam, 1965-1973 (choose a two-year period):

Muskie's participation in the U.S. delegation to observe the 1967 South Vietnamese elections

Public response to the U.S. incursion into Cambodia (spring 1970)

Public response to the Kent State/Jackson State incidents

Opposition in Maine to the Vietnam war and Muskie’s response (1965-1969)

U.S. policy toward Southeast Asia since the end of the Vietnam war (1975): the Center for National Policy files

Vietnam as an issue in the race for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination

The 1972 presidential bid: major issues and responses

The 1972 campaign staff (choose one person):

William A.K. (Tony) Lake, foreign policy advisor

George Mitchell, staff director

Lannie Davis, Youth for Muskie

The Senate staff (choose one person):

Donald E. Nicoll

Leon G. Billings

The 1972 presidential bid: the New Hampshire primary

The 1972 presidential bid: the Florida primary

The 1972 presidential bid: the Illinois primary

The school busing issue and race relations in the United States: the 1972 presidential campaign

Maine Indian land claim case

Closing of Dow Air Force Base (Bangor): the impact of military spending on local economies and politics

Proposed closing of Loring Air Force Base

The Passamaquoddy Tidal Power and the Lincoln-Dickey projects: economic development in the northeastern U.S.

Politics of abortion in the wake of Roe v. Wade

Roosevelt Campobello International Park: origins and operation of an international agency

Controversy over Muskie's remark on a black vice presidential nominee: the role of the press in political campaigns

The candidate's spouse: Jane Gray Muskie on the campaign trail (1968 and 1972)

Muskie's political campaigns (choose one):

1954 (governor)

1958 (U.S. Senate)

1968 (U.S. vice president)

1970 (U.S. Senate reelection)

Maine Yankee: the controversy over nuclear power

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project (northern Maine): environmental protection vs. economic development?

Nestle infant formula controversy and boycott: corporate responsibility in a global economy

Maine Commission on Legal Needs: providing legal services to the poor in the 1980s

General topics:

Abortion

Civil rights

Busing for racial balance

Civil defense

Crime/law enforcement/gun control

Nuclear power/anti-nuclear power demonstration at Seabrook, New Hampshire

Draft/military conscription

Drug abuse/narcotics control

Environmental protection/air and water pollution

Equal Rights Amendment

Gun control

Vietnam/POWs/MIAs/wartime dissent

Watergate (1972-1974)

U.S. Senate Budget Committee

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